A 10 day stopover in Portugal

Thursday

Our TAP (Air Portugal) flight from Boston to Venice had a flexible free stopover in Lisbon, anything from a few hours to 10 days. Although we visited Portugal in 2016 there was much that we had missed and places we wanted to return to, so we chose 10 days.  

We landed on time in Lisbon but had a 30 minute wait for our gate. We were using a new data service (Ubigi) for our phones and it was ready when we wanted to message our driver that we might be a bit late due to the gate delay. 

We collected our bags and met our driver (Carlos) and were off to the walled city of Évora. The Roman era city and 14C home of the Portuguese Kings is noted for its intact walls, medieval buildings and 16C aqueduct  (11 miles long and probably built over a Roman aqueduct).

Our first stop was at Enoteca Cartuxa for a wine & cheese tasting and some lunch. We especially enjoyed the sautéed shrimp with garlic, pork cheeks, red pepper spread & mushrooms with fries on the side. We topped it off with a delightful mousse accompanied by some Port.

We made a short walk around the city with a photo stop at the Temple of Évora, also called the Temple of Diana as it was mistakenly believed to be dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana.

At the Royal Church of St. Francis we visited the 16C Chapel of Bones, and the Nativity Scene Collection.

The Chapel of Bones is decorated with skeletal parts (arms & legs, skulls) of 5000 or so corpses from as many as 43 cemeteries. Aside from freeing up valuable land it was thought to offer a helpful place to meditate on the transience of material things. There is a thought-provoking message above the chapel door “We bones, are here, waiting for yours.”

In the Canha da Silva Nativity Scene Collection there are hundreds of nativity sets with nearly as many styles and compositions.

After the city tour we visited a nearby cork factory. We admired an old cork tree and stacks of  curvy bark fresh from the trees along side stacks that had been flattened, all waiting for processing into many products including wine corks, cork boards, chairs, hats, handbags, belts, ...

Our evening repast: a regional cheese, a home cured Alentejo ham and a bottle of wine at Restaurante Cervejaria 1/4 para as 9. (1/4 to 9:00). Strange name. Good food. The Serra de Estrella cheese was especially tasty, the rind was hard but the inside was soft, almost crumbly.

Friday

We headed off through fields of cork, olives, grapes and pine nuts! on our way to some wine tasting and fine dining. 

Fita Preta winery was founded in 1306. The current young winemaker was winemaker of the year in 2015. Our wine tasting was accompanied by a spread of cheeses, quince paste, nuts and dried fruit. One cheese was a young Serra de Estrella (round with a very soft center, delightful. We enjoyed a tour of their wine making facilities. Lots of stainless steel. A few wooden casks--they use French Oak only for a few months. Even terracotta pots but they stressed that they do not make "talha" wine since they don't follow the rules. As a result they think their wine is a finer wine. 

We tasted 3 whites. The first was very light. The next two had more character. The first red was a blend of alentejo grapes. This was followed by an even nicer but slightly different blend with more aging. The winery has facilities in Maderia, the Azores, and the Douro valley.

We moved on to visit Monsaraz and its Castle/Fortress, just across the Guadiana River from Spain. We had a nice walk around the small village and then visited the fortress with views of the countryside and the River/Reservoir formed by the Alqueva Dam. We enjoyed a sign with an intriguing question.   

At Herdade do Esporão (a Michelin 1 star restaurant) we had a 5 Moments feast with wine pairing. By moments they seem to refer to courses but by my count there were actually 7 courses. What with savoring the food and wine, it took around 3 hours to complete. 

The meal began with great breads. Then there was an interesting but not special amuse bouche. The next moment was an amazing heirloom tomato salad, wedges of different tomatoes topped with a lightly seasoned granita. It was as beautiful as it was tasty. It was followed by a chocolate crust with foam filling, a pop in your mouth palate cleanser. The crust was more notable for the feel & texture than for the taste. The mains were black perch (one pate'ish, one filet) and lamb (quite good but would have been better if medium rare as ordered). Dessert was a nice combination of ice cream, chocolate and caramelized sugar. The wines all paired well and we got photos of the bottles but the labels shared few significant details. 

Saturday

It was time to move on to the Douro Valley. Of course we scheduled in some touring along with the drive. We had stopped in Conimbriga and Coimbra. It rained quite heavily during part of our drive but the worst rain was while we were at a rest stop and under cover. No problem. The rain politely abated for our touring stops.

The Roman ruins of Conímbriga include a number of structures but most notable to us were the many elaborate floor mosaics in and around the garden of fountains. Many of the objects discovered during the excavations are on display in the visitors center.

We moved on to Coimbra and had lunch at Solar do Bacalhau. Bacalhau is dried and salted cod fish. It comes in large, dried slabs. These are prepared to eat by a range of methods, all involve soaking in water. It can be a simple soak for several days It can be an overnight soak followed by boiling in water for 20-30 minutes, or boiling in water for 3 hours or more. Or many other variants. Once properly prepared, you would swear it is the freshest sweetest flakey fish ever. 

It is not sold on the fresh fish counter, it is stacked nearby in piles and often sold as a whole fish rather than cut up into smaller sizes. Not only that, they have their own names for the various cuts. 

We chose Coimbra style bacalhau (with olives, onions, fried potatoes and egg) and a breaded version (with eggplant and broccoli). Both were great and it was hard to believe they had spent much of their life as salted, dried slabs.

Coimbra is famous for its University, the oldest in Portugal and one of the oldest in Europe, but it is also noted for its charming old town, ancient churches, parks and gardens (including the 32 acre Botanic Garden). We didn't have time to do it justice. But we did catch sight of a few students in their traditional black capes.

Our primary target was to visit the Joanina Library with its rich baroque architecture. It has more than 300,000 works dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries arranged in beautiful gilt-covered bookcases. They are under strict environmental controls so no photos and you mainly only get to see the closed bookcases.

Arriving late in the day to the Vintage House Hotel in Pinhão and without dinner reservations, we went to the bar and ordered a very fine charcuterie (cheeses, sausages, homemade jams, olives, bread & toast) and two glasses of wine. After our dinner we were treated to a complimentary port.

Sunday

Pinhão is a very small village in the Duoro Valley, east of Porto. It is surrounded by acres of mountainside vineyards on steep slopes from the top down to the river. Many of these grapes are destined to go into Port wine. But a few will yield fine white and red wines. We were mainly visiting the area for the latter although most wineries include their ports in the tastings. Fine with us!

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SIDEBAR: A primer on Port wine. It is OK to skip ahead if you are not a wine lover.

There are White Ports, Ruby Ports and Tawny Ports, as well as, several styles of each, including:

• White (Fine white, Extra Dry)
• Ruby (Fine Ruby, LBV, Vintage) 
• Tawny (Fine Tawny, Colheita, Aged -10, 20, 30, 40 years)

Ruby Port is aged in big oak casks. This limits the contact with the wood so that the wine retains a youthful ruby color and fruity flavors ...good with chocolate & berries, and soft ripened cheese.

Tawny Port is aged in small barrels. With more contact with the wood, the wine changes to a browner color and rich flavor. Good with apple pie, hard dry or salty cheeses

Vintage Port (a ruby port) is at the top of the pile as far as price, aging potential and prestige are concerned. It’s made only from the best grapes of a single vintage, and only in years that have been “declared” vintage-worthy. It is bottled at 2 years and if vintage worthy it is tucked away to mellow and mature for 18+ more years before being released.

LBV (Late-Bottled Vintage) Ports are Ruby ports that aren’t bottled until four to six years from the vintage date. This means they spend about twice as long in wood as Vintage Ports.

Colheita Port is a single vintage Tawny Port that is aged in wood for at least seven years (often as long as 20), giving it a nutty, oxidized character. Being the product of a single vintage it can show considerable variation from year to year. Colheita years must be "declared" by the Institute of Douro and Porto Wine Board. Both the vintage year and the date of bottling are included on front and back labels respectively, and generally, Colheita Port should be consumed within a year of bottling.

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A stop at Ventozelo winery got us off to a great start in our exploration of the Douro. The winery has a great view down to the river with Pinhão  in the distance. 

During our  walk around the grounds we discovered a slightly warped (drunk?) ladder and a vintage truck. 

We tasted several wines and had an excellent meal at the Cantina. Checkout the dishes below.

Back in Pinhão  we (and a few other tour groups) had a very crass, commercial wine and olive oil tasting at d'Origem. The highlight was the host. He actually managed the crowd amusingly well.

Monday

Every day rain was in the forecast. Usually it didn't come or it didn't interfere with our day. We had rain Sunday night and Monday started off quite gray. By noon it was much nicer and delightfully balmy. 

To get to Crasto for our wine tasting we had to drive up one mountainside and back down and then up another. We and the driver were happy to do this without the rain. Actually Bill was thrilled to not be driving at all. Our tasting was excellent. Early on we caught the master winemaker and an assistant checking the 4 day old juice from one of their two top vineyards. We chatted a bit and he gave us samples. It shows great promise. Wait for those 2023's!

The tasting was excellent, 5 wines (one white, three reds, and a port). They were great examples of what can be done with the local grape varietals.

We returned to Pinhao for a relaxing river cruise on a traditional Rabelo boat, a very laidback experience. Previously these craft were used to transport Port wine down river to Vila Nova de Gaia (across the river from Porto) for aging. 

Our final tasting of the day was at Cavalhas. An intense thunder storm made the driving tour of the vineyards impossible. We traded that for a couple additional tastes, including a great Port, not a "Vintage" but a Colheita (harvested in1976 and bottled in 2016 - a mere 40 years in wood). As noted in the Sidebar above, the vintage year is on the front label and the bottling year is on the back,

For dinner at the hotel we shared grouper on a bed of barley and leeks. We treated ourselves to some special desserts (one with sabayon and one with pistachio ice cream) and port.

Tuesday

We began our trip to Porto with a stop at a view point overlooking much of the Douro Valley that we had been visiting. We then continued on to Amarante. 

The Amarante bridge perpetuates the memory of the heroic resistance of the population to the forces of Napoleon who, at the beginning of the 20th century, invaded Portugal. The city was besieged. The Amarantes bravely resisted the siege, guarding the bridge for 14 days but then they finally surrendered.

After a brief tour of the city, we wandered across the bridge (Ponte de São Gonçalo) to have lunch at Le da Calçada. We had a wide selection of appetizers to pick from. We chose Arroz de Tamboril e Camarão for 2 (rice with monk fish and shrimp) for our mains. It was very good and complemented nicely by the owner's Vino Verde (Quinta do Outiero de Baixo).

We arrived in Porto in the late afternoon and headed out to meet with friends (Amy and Tim) that evening at Mercado Bomm Successo (an upscale food court) for a little food and drink. They are founders of the facebook group "Go With Less". They were in Porto bird sitting for a month, I think. They had invited a bunch of local travel buddies for a meet up. There were folks who had moved or were moving to Porto and others who were traveling through. A interesting and fun bunch

Wednesday

We started the day with a Port Tasting at Burmester. We had a private tasting that ended up in a tasting room with an amazing view of the Luis Bridge  (which Pat fell  in love with on our previous visit).  

We tasted two white ports (a Fine and an Extra Dry), an LBV, a 10 Yr Tawny and a 30 year Tawny). We liked all except the Extra Dry white. We now know we like a range of ports and have a growing appreciation of the styles, but aren't quite up to judging the quality in detail.

Next up: Pat got to return to the upper deck of the Luis Bridge. The upper deck is only open to pedestrians and the metro. The bridge connects Porto with neighboring Vila Nova de Gaia – the area where the Port wines are stored and aged. Why does Pat love being on the Upper Deck of the Luis Bridge so much? Well, it is high above the river (150'), and standing in the middle of the bridge it is 650' from either side with no structures noticeable, not even the edges or base of the bridge (if you are looking straight ahead or up.) She feels like a bird up there gazing around. Simple delightful.

View of Vila Nova de Gaia from Luis Bridge

After crossing the Luis bridge our food and drink tour of Porto continued with stops at:

• Leitaria do Quinto Cervejaria Gazelle, an institution in Porto. We werer there for "Hot Dogs" (grilled thinly sliced meat), fries, and Super Bock Beer. 

• Casa Louro for homemade codfish fritters, fried  sardines, and brown bread (made with molasses, rye, & wheat).

• Cafe Santiago. (Not). We passed this up but it is noted for Francesinha á Lupa (Francesinha is a sandwich made from thick slices of bread stuffed with sausage, cheese, steak and more cheese and then put in the oven til the cheese melts. It is then topped with a slightly spicy sauce and served with egg either in the sandwich or on the side. That was just too much for us. 

• Mercado Bolhao, an upscale "local" market or maybe I should say former local market. Things are so beautiful and beautifully stacked that you know the true locals can no longer afford to do their daily shopping here. 

• Leitaria da Quinto do Paço / Porto Eclair Factory which speaks for itself. The 103 year old company serves 43 types of eclairs.

• Mantegaria for Pasteles de Nata (Pasteles de Nata are a small flan/custard pastry and typical local dessert), along with Espinheira Ginja (a fruit liqueur with a cherry flavor).

That evening we enjoyed wine & cheese with Amy & Tim at Wine Quay Bar. Coincidentally the next time we expect to see Amy & Tim is in Chiang Mai Thailand in January 2024. 

Thursday

The next day we drove north to Gerês National Park/Parque National Peneda-Gerês (shared by Portugal & Spain). We started by driving to the northern part (in Spain) and then down through the park to see:

• Espigueiros of Lindoso – traditional Grain storage containers made of granite (raised to keep the vermin out). The oldest date back to the 17C but some are still in use today. The side walls have vertical vents so the wind can blow through and dry the corn. The top consists of two slabs of granite.

• Fortress in Lindoso. Around it we noted chestnut trees like the one Pat's family had in Maine, green but ripe figs, and flowers (autumn crocuses). Later Pat even had a discussion with a Roman Centurion...

• Small cascades in the River/Rio Homem

• A collection of Roman mile markers

• Aguas termais de Riocaldo / Thermal Waters of the Hot River in Ourense Spain. Pat had to check. And yep the water coming out of the spigot was too hot to touch, but it cooled off as it spread out into a small shared pool. Folks were sitting in the pool and in the nearby stream to enjoy the waters. 

• Animal life: cows wandering down the road and lazing in a field, feral horses grazing,  and goats at the Pedra Bela viewpoint. The goats are there as a maintenance team. Their job is to keep the weeds down but weeds aren't enough and we saw them help themselves to one couple's lunch. 

• Rua da Cascata do Arado, a lovely ~2500' waterfall. 

• Lunch at  Lurdes Capella in Gerês. We had a veal cutlet that looked like a big pork chop (tasty but clearly not from a baby cow) and a plate with a selection of pork cuts. Shared with Carlos, our driver/guide

In the evening we went to Bacchus Vini under the Luis Bridge.for a wine tasting with: Dão, LBV, 10 year tawny, and a 30 year white accompanied by "a selection of cheeses platter"

Friday

We had a pretty intensive touring day on our way to Lisbon. We stopped at:

• Aviero: A coastal town known for its canals. Today working boats called Moliceiros, that formerly were used to harvest and transport algae for fertilizer, transport tourists (including us) around the lovely town (at least it seems lovely but much is hidden by the construction work intended to make it easier to manage the tourist traffic). They seem to decorate bridges with ribbons here (rather than weight them dow with padlocks). We stopped for a snack at a pastelleria.

• Nazare: Noted for its spectacular waves (in winter). One of the "big" waves for surfers. One surfer is recorded as having ridden a 100 footer. The surf was quite mild though for us. We enjoyed the outdoor museum on the beach with a selection of former working boats and lots of fish drying on racks The drying octopus were impressively displayed.

• We had a great lunch at Taberna D'Adelia. It has an amazing fish selection: Sardines, Squids, Red Mullets, White Seabream, Gilt-Head Bream, Golden Eye Snaper, Wild Seabass, Red Porgy, Red Seabream, Bluemouth Rockfish, Sole, Turbot,  Brill Fish, John Dory, Grouper, Wreckfish. That's 15 types of fish! We shared a John Dory. It was plenty for the 3 of us. John Dory is ugly looking but tasty and expensive. €60 per pound in this case...it has a "mild, slightly sweet flavor, pearly-white flesh and firm, succulent texture. It's a heavy-boned fish, and more expensive because of its low yield". But basically it is well worth every penny.

• Obidos: A fortified town with crenellated walls. Obviously very cute and touristy. It's Mediev:al Village has been repurposed into lodging and tourist shops but still quite charming.

In the evening we enjoyed wine and yet another cheese / charcuterie plate at the rooftop hotel bar overlooking the city of Lisbon.

Saturday

The next morning we adjusted our luggage for our Sunday morning flight. (Note: When we fly we split our clothes into our two bags; when on land, we prefer our separate bags.) Then we took a walk before meeting with friends from SMA (Ricardo & Cynthia) for lunch at nearby Baixa Mar Restaurant. We had:

• Seasoned olives, crushed jacket potatoes, 
• Baixamar octopus - Slow-cooked octopus, sweet potatoes, pimento vinaigrette and dried olives
• Fresh sea bass fillet with crushed jacket potatoes with vegetables
• Passagem (By La Rosa) white Douro Superior Reserva 2022. The pairing worked very well. 

After lunch we were off for some Madeira Wine at Wines of Portugal. We don't recall ever having Madeira before. 

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Another wine sidebar: 

Madeira is a fortified wine made in the Portuguese Madeira Islands, it can be dry or sweet with flavors of roasted nuts, stewed fruit, caramel, and toffee. Dry Madeiras are consumed as an apéritif, while sweet ones are typically paired with dessert. Exposure to extreme temperature and oxygen are key elements of the aging process. This causes the wine to oxidize creating a long lasting wine with a brownish color. They say that even an opened (but re-corked) bottle will survive unharmed indefinitely. For some nomenclature: A true "vintage" Madeira, must be aged for 20 years. A long time to wait for your return on investment. In recent years they have introduced Colheita which must be of one single grape variety and aged for at least (but only) five years ...helping the wineries cash flow!

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We started with a dry white Serical and moved on to a sweet Colheita Malvasia. 

• Justino's Madeira Sercial 10 Years Old "has delicate aromas of ripe fruits, notes of dried fruits and lemon zest. In the mouth it is complex, persistent with a dry and vibrant finish. Good with cured cheese and fruit desserts". Yep I copied that from the web but it gives you the idea.

• Justino's Madeira Colheita Malvasia 2009, "a wonderfully sweet liqueur. On the nose it shows notes of caramel and toffee paired with notes of tea and tobacco leaves and fine spices. On the palate, the dessert wine is rich and sweet, but very elegant with a long finish. Goes well with dark chocolate, pralines and sweet and rich desserts, such as mousse au chocolate." Yep, again from the web.

Its doubtful we'll find a worthy selection of Madeira in SMA or even Queretaro but it was interesting to try. 

Afterwards we wandered back to our hotel so the two of us could get ready for our sunset cruise.

The Sunset Sail on the Tagus River was a relaxing way to wrap up our stop over enroute to Venice. Along the way we enjoyed...

• The Golden Gate Bridge (of Lisbon). The 25 de Abril Bridge is based in part on two San Francisco Bay Area bridges. Its paint is the same International Orange color as the Golden Gate Bridge, and the design is similar to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

• Chatcuterie & wine (Muralhas de Moncão VinhoVerde

• Other sailboats there for the sunset

Praça do Comércio (Commercial Plaza)

• The 17C Church of Santa Engrácia is a 17C monument was converted from a church  into the National Pantheon, in which important Portuguese personalities are buried.

• The elevator Boca Vento is situated in the urban area along the south bank of theTagus River, along the cliffs, with a view of the city of Lisbon.

  

  Panoramic Elevator of Boca do Vento

• Sanctuary of Christ the King is a Catholic monument and shrine overlooking the city of Lisbon. It was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil.

• And then it was time for sunset.

• Belém is the "capital of the Portuguese Discoveries" and a photographer's paradise. You can spend an entire day(or more) exploring this neighborhood: monuments (Jerónimos Monastery, Belém Tower, Monument to the Discoveries), and museums (Coach Museum, Centro Cultural de Belém) .

Belém Tower

• Also in Belém, Padrão dos Descobrimentos celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration) during the 15th and 16th centuries. It stands over 150 feet high with heroes of the era standing on the prow of a ship.

• A fitting finish - Murganheira Espumante Tavora Varosa Reserva Brut 2017.

Sunday

Next stop Venice.

Maine, a family wedding before venturing off to Europe

 There was a family wedding in Maine on September 3. We try not to miss such things. We intended to go to Venice late in the year and decides to visit the Maine Coast in August, go to the wedding and then off  to Europe. We left Mexico on August 15 for nearly three weeks in Maine, a couple days in Boston, and then off to Europe.

While on the coast, we stayed in Portland, Boothbay Harbor, Rockland and Bar Harbor. Then home to Garland (OK, it is Pat's home, Bill grew up 8 miles away in Dexter.)

As you may have noticed, we visit Maine quite often. We visit many of the same places each trip and Pat always eats as much lobster as possible. So we don't want to bore you with the day by day details. Instead we refer you to our postings from July 2018 (see Sidebar).

As a postscript to that posting, we had a lovely trip with great weather. But when we returned home we discovered San Miguel had be inundated with rain with flooding that took out the primary access to the airport.

We did something different this time. For our 55th anniversary we went to a highly praised restaurant in Rockland, Primo. We have wanted to visit in the past but we were typically there in midday, and Primo is only open at night. Advance reservations are needed. We made ours in April, just to be sure. The highlight of. the meals was the seared Foie Gras with olive oil cake. Pat was delighted that they had mackerel as a special.

This was a very successful visit to New England because we reconnected with:

Bill's cousins Maxine and Mary

Elaine, Pat's childhood best friend

Our high school friend Carol

Two friends from University, Brian and Denham

Ken, who we met on our mutual first day of post University work

Marci, a business school friend of Pat's

Evelina, who we first met in San Miguel

To extend the connections further, Maxine (Bill's cousin) asked us to lookup Bill's Great grandfather's (William H. Harding) tombstone while we were in Bar Harbor. We succeeded only to find the stone covered with lichen. We learned it is quite easy to remove lichen so  we can share with you a cleaned up, readable tombstone. 

And of course, the wedding was beautiful — on a picture perfect day with Penobscot Bay in the background.

The proud grandparents (Jim & Sandra) with Uncle Bill.

The gorgeous bride is Pat's grand/great niece (we can't find a definitive source of which word is correct, but she is Pat's niece's daughter). 

On Labor Day we were off to Boston. Along the way we stopped to visit Denham, and spent the night with Marci. Tuesday we were out on Boston Harbor on Ken's boat and Wednesday, after lunch with Evelina, we were off to Lisbon.

Florida

We flew AeroMexico out of Mexico City Terminal 2. We stayed at the NH Hotel there. Their restaurant is the best place to eat in T2 (assuming you have time to relax over dinner). We had a sampler plate  (we don't recall the details) and Scielo MX a blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon from Mexico. 

We arrived in Miami on time and proceeded directly to the Budget Counter to pick up our car.  Everything went well until they scanned Bill's driver's license. The light went RED. They tried Pat's license. The light went RED. And they would not let us have the car.  Apparently there was nothing we could do without a different license. We went over to another US rental company and learned they had nothing but trucks or sports cars. And they indicated the other US companies would be the same. We proceeded to SIXT (a German company) and they were happy to rent us a nice BMW SUV. 

Our tour was to take us clockwise around south & central FL. So off we went to our apartment on Casey Key, on the Gulf Coast. We were staying near Venice, one of our favorite shopping and dining locations. On the drive over Bill realized that he was coming down with a cold. More on that later. We had an early dinner at Bodrum, a mid-eastern restaurant. 

We then  bought groceries and settled into our rental. We shopped (successfully) for two days (taking it easy due to Bill's now full-fledged cold). We ate Italian at Restaurante San Marco on the main street one day and at the Burgundy Square Cafe that had caught our attention due to how busy it was when we ate at it's neighbor, Bodrum. While waiting in line Pat learned that the lobster roll was allegedly excellent. Being nervous about eating not-so-fresh lobster but realizing that in nearby in Siesta Key they have great lobster, she risked it. The risk paid off. Yum!

We moved on to Sarasota with a stop in Siesta Key for Pat's planned steamed lobster dinner. As luck would have it, the lobster delivery was overdue. Pooh! But the waitress said it should arrive soon and wondered if we would wait. Absolutely. And within 15 minutes the lobsters had arrived!  We drove on to Sarasota to another lovely rental. We bought groceries and settled in again. Then Bill rested and rested. No museum visits for us this trip. Two days more of shopping. Make that half days or less of shopping. Bill needed much more rest. In Venice we focused on shopping for Pat. In Sarasota, for Bill. We were on a mission to find clothes suitable for a wedding AND also for travel. Our great niece Angelyn is getting married in early Sept in Maine. We plan to go to the wedding and then on to Europe (to Venice IT, with a stop in Portugal and then on through northern Italy and maybe to southern France...but that is a story for later.) We think we succeeded admirably with the wedding clothes. Hopefully Angelyn agrees. We'll share the results in our late summer postings.

We moved on for a stay in WDW. On the way, we stopped in Winter Haven to visit with Bill's Mom's neighbors to catchup and to share memories of Polly. After booking our stay in Boardwalk Inn (in the park near EPCOT) we realized that we should have booked a night there for the night before visiting the parks so that we could take advantage of our Early Access. But we were in Ecuador when this idea came to us and for some reason the Disney site would not cooperate. We surrendered to the fates. We ended up staying in the nearby "AC Hotels by Marriot". It was lovely. And we managed to get early access to our room at Boardwalk, so we were in and settled by 10AM!

We had been concerned that we wouldn't get a King Bed room as there are so few at the Boardwalk Inn. We stuck with the Inn anyway because it is sooooo convenient to EPCOT and it's dining options. This worked out VERY well. We were upgraded to the Boardwalk Villas in a 1 BR suite with a fully equipped kitchen and KB. Even a W/D. We had thought about upgrading ourselves but this unit is at least $100 per night more and didn't seem worth it. But we loved the room other than the mile long walk through refrigerated hallways to get to it from the lobby. 

The Boardwalk also has one of the best restaurants, Flying Fish, where we had some great seafood. We started with Grilled Romaine Salad. Pat had Seafood Pearl Pasta and Bill had the fish of the day, a nice sized hunk of grouper. Pat had Key Lime Mousse for dessert. Bill had cognac.

For those of you who haven't been to Disney lately (for us it had been roughly 25 years), the challenge of visiting the park these days is to master the Disney Genie app. You can use the app to book EVERYTHING - the room, the admission fee, the specific park reservation (with or without the "park hopper " option), dining reservations, mobile food orders, and you have two ways to pay extra for faster access to specific rides (Genie+ and Lightning Lanes). There is more you can purchase, strangely enough. But those are the basics. Plus the newest, most in-demand rides, can ONLY be booked via Genie and a Virtual Queue. All of this requires learning the rules, figuring out when you can do what and how to do it. You can still take the easy way out and just wait longer for the rides. It makes Disney a bit less of a happy place but I am not sure if there is a better way to schedule things.

Yes, we are enjoying our second childhood, so why not at WDW. What most folks don't know is that Pat worked on a project to establish the building control (heat, ac, sump pumps, ...) of the park and we were there in October 1971 to celebrate the grand opening. The Magic Kingdom opened with surprisingly many things that are still popular. Apparently there were around 10K attendees (and 5K cast members). Today the average crowd to the now four theme parks is approximately 160,000 per day! Ticket prices on opening day were $3.50 for adults. Today the basic bare bones ticket price starts at $109, this can go up to well over $150/day (depending on demand).

We spent time in each of the four parks, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. 

The Magic Kingdom has a number of old standby rides. Most, if not all, have been updated. These include:  "Jungle Cruise", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Swiss Family Treehouse", "Haunted Mansion", "Peter Pan's Flight", and "Seven Dwarfs' Mine Train". We've done most of these multiple times in the past but we repeated several. They remain entertaining and among the most popular today. More recent additions include "Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin",  "Under the Sea ~Journey of the Little Mermaid". Other rides that have stood the test of time are "It's a Small World", "Dumbo the Flying Elephant" and Country Bear Jamboree, but they weren't for us this trip.

Top L-R: Carousel of Progress, Haunted House, Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin

Hollywood Studios has a couple great rides but is abysmal on the "hangout" front. Toy Story Land likely makes this a better bet for the younger generations. It was, however, pretty cool wandering through the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge area and to be transported to worlds only otherwise experienced in movies. The top ride in HS is the "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror". It is "Haunted House" on steroids. You explore a creepy old hotel and then enter a rickety elevator. Of course during the ride, the lights go out and the elevator goes crazy with some drops that end in abrupt stops, etc.  

Due to technical difficulties (Pat's) we missed "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance". We missed "Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run" due to technical difficulties with the ride. And we may have misjudged one ride, that a savvy 10 year old told us that we should have checked out ,"Slinky Dog Dash". So these three are unfairly overlooked in our ratings of the rides. Bill's cold was getting the best of him on this day so we went to the room early and didn't return for the Fantasmic light show. 

Top: L-R: Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!, Tower of Terror, R2D2's friends, Chewbacca the Wookiee

One evening we headed to Disney Springs. After wandering the shops we went to Wine Bar George which has a great wine list. We sampled a couple from their list before heading to The Boathouse for a nice seafood dinner. We chose the Oberon Chardonnay which was very nice and particularly good with the seafood.

We enjoyed Animal Kingdom, maybe because it is more manageable. It is a relaxing but exciting 1 day visit. It is small in area and packs some great experiences. "Avatar Flight of Passage: Fly A Banshee in Pandora" is a spectacular virtual reality ride, and comes in as #1 or #2 for best in all the parks on the Harding Scale. It is a somewhat intense ride on a banshee and includes a very close-up sighting of a giant whale-like creature along with some high speed flying through narrow rocky chasms. It could be hard for folks with vertigo tendencies, but I (Pat) just close my eyes briefly and all is fine.

There is a "real life" safari through the plains with live animals (not animatronic). 

"Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain" is a more traditional roller coaster with a twist, probably our #4 fav for the roller coaster or virtual reality category. It  is intended to be a race through the Himalayas to find the Yeti. It starts off like a pretty normal coaster but then stops. It seems like a mechanical difficulty. Then suddenly you are going backward in the dark. Let's say it is thrilling. After the encounter with the Yeti we took a break with "Feathered Friends in Flight!" for a behind the scenes look at the birds. Next up: a dive into virtual reality with "Avatar Flight of Passage". The latter was quite the experience.

Top L-R: Feathered Friends in Flight!, Avatar, Expedition Everest

We made Genie+ reservations for "Kilimanjaro Safari", "Avatar Flight of Passage" and "Na'vi River Journey".  And used Standby lines for "Expedition Everest". It was basically walk-ins for the show "Feathered Friends in Flight!", as well as two wildlife walking trails, ("Maharajah Jungle Trek" and "Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail" with birds, giant bats, tigers, gorillas and hippos).

We visited Downtown Miami and Miami Beach (the Art Deco district, Hilton Fountain Blue Hotel and Ocean Drive), the Wynwood District with its giant Street Art, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables with Biltmore Hotel, and Little Havana where the first Cuban's settled along Calle Ocho. We passed by Vizcaya, the Miami Art Museum and elegant home of James Deering of the International Harvester fortune. It is a great place to visit but we've been there already a couple times.

We took one day off from the Parks and visited with local friends (Jim & Terry, Terry was Pat's roommate at the U of M during our junior year. We strolled around Disney Springs making stops for coffee and pizza. We stayed after J&T left and had a light evening meal at Wine Bar George along with several glasses of wine.

EPCOT is the place for adults to both enjoy rides and to hangout. We spent about half of our time at WDW at EPCOT. And luckily we arrived in time to enjoy the "Flower & Garden Festival". Lots of great topiary! Fine floral displays. 

Plus specialized  food stands. Some tasty tidbits we enjoyed were:

• Potato Pancakes with caramelized ham, onions, and herb sour cream  (German Pavilion)
• Seared Scallops with French green beans, butter potatoes, and brown butter vinaigrette (Canadian Pavilion)
• Bananas Foster Bread Pudding (US Pavilion)
• Fish and Chips (UK Pavilion)
• Prosecco (Italian Pavilion)

There are quite a few fine restaurants. Even so it can be challenging to find availability. Reservations for "sit-down" restaurants open up 60 days before your visit. Because we were staying in the park, we could reserve for the full length of our stay. Even then it's difficult to get any of the top rated restaurants. We managed to snag reservations for Space 220 Restaurant. You ride a space elevator to the "Centauri Space Station" for a fine meal. Prix Fixe dining but since Pat preferred the appetizers, they charged her meal a la carte, using the Bar menu. It was a good deal. 

Epcot has more to offer than the restaurants and World Show Case. We recommend the following:

- "Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind",  ...State of the art Roller coaster tied for #1 or #2 on the Harding Scale, available only by Virtual Queue (while we were there). It takes determination to schedule it. One time we tried and missed because availability was ONLY 7 seconds! The ride is super intense physically although not super scary. Loved it. We managed to get it twice! The story is that Xandarians traveled from their home world in the Andromeda Galaxy to Earth (“Terra”) to prepare the first otherworld pavilion at WDW. Cosmic Rewind has a reverse launch and is fast, with a top speed of 60 mph. I read it's so smooth that it doesn't feel as fast as other coasters that go this speed. 

- "Test Track"...the ride in a convertible through various "car tests", ends in a high-speed lap. Basically a pretty fine roller coaster that helped prepare us for "Guardians of the Galaxy". 

- "Soarin', Around the World", ...great iMax float around the world. Fantastic for travelers including the armchair kind! Pretty amazing effects as you fly over landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House and the Taj Mahal. Other fine (but less exciting) travel shows are "Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360" and "Reflections of China". 

-  "Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure."  ...4D family-friendly ride shrinks riders down to the size of a rat as they go on an exciting journey through Gusteau’s kitchen. This one actually triggered Pat's vertigo the most, but briefly closing her eyes helped. 

- "The American Adventure" ...very patriotic but felt a bit cliché

- "Frozen Ever After" ...charming but not very memorable.

- "Carousel of Progress" ...fun to see the evolution of technology in the home, it has a catchy tune that stuck with me a bit long.

And the evening "Harmonious Nighttime Show" ...as dazzling as you might expect with lights and fireworks.

A side note re EPCOT, it is definitely more than a bunch of rides, the shops and restaurants take up half of the pamphlet. 

Since we returned to SMA, we noted an article in the WSJ that there is a small industry focused on addressing the frustrations of mastering navigating WDW. Some of us accept the challenge of mastering the tools. Others hire experts and likely avoid the mid afternoon meltdowns that we observed. Read all about it: https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-world-universal-private-tour-guide-416c4af5

We moved on to visit our friends Bentley & Sharon. We met them in the early 90's when Bentley came to Sun Microsystems. Sharon later joined Sun where she & Bill worked together. They now live in Cocoa FL, right across from Cape Canaveral. 

Aside from visiting with them we went to see two launches. The first was the Mar 8 launch of Relativity and a 3D-printed rocket. The mission was scrubbed in the last few seconds (and finally launched Mar 22). It is just mind boggling to even imagine a 3D printed rocket! The press thought so too and had coverage there. A newscaster was talking to Bentley and mentioned they'd like to interview someone who was not from Florida. Bill stepped up to the occasion and we saw him on the news that evening. Even though the launch was scrubbed, we had the excitement of seeing a Trident nuclear submarine departing the nearby maintenance facility. They had closed down the whole harbor. We thought it was due to the launch. But, no. The submarine was the guest of honor.

The next day a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 40 broadband satellites to orbit for the U.K. company OneWeb (March 9). There was just enough cloud cover to obscure much of the launch. Luckily It is a reusable rocket and we sighted it as it was returning to Earth where it executed a pinpoint touchdown. We also got a photo of one resting on the ground. 

Then we moved on to Pompano Beach (near Fort Lauderdale). Our friends Peter & Peggi from near Seattle were in the area visiting family. On the way to Pompano, we stopped briefly in Vero Beach to visit Pat's cousin Leslie. We had a nice lunch and chat at our usual meeting spot, Mulligan's Beach House where Pat had lobster once again. 

Having visited Vero Beach several times in the past, we knew there is a great seafood market and a great wine store there. We bought some salmon and grouper at Rhonda's Seafood for our dinner with Peter and Peggi in the evening. We also purchased a few bottles of wine at Varietals and More. 

Next day we went to Fort Lauderdale and after some shopping along Olas Blvd had a nice lunch at IT! Italy. 

The following day we walked around the neighborhood near our apartment noting the view of Hillsboro Inlet and Lighthouse from our apartment, an open draw bridge (a frequent scene around the inland waterway), and the floral decor and creative mailboxes of the nearby homes. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Seaside Grill.

We hung out with Peter & Peggi for a few days while also visiting Palm Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton including some nice Greek and Italian meals. We spent some time shopping and visited Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. We only had time for a short stop so we missed the boardwalk that goes to a lookout. And there were crowds of students making for lines. So we passed up the most popular tank (the tank with seahorses). We did however enjoy the large tanks of fish and the sea turtles

We four enjoyed exploring the expansive tranquil grounds of the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens where we also learned the story of how many Japanese families came to live and farm in the area introducing Japanese agriculture to south Florida. 

Our final stop was in Miami. We found a rental in a central area (Brickell) in a high rise (34th floor). On the drive in through the high rises, Pat experienced a bit of claustrophobia, probably a bit concerned that the GPS signals could be blocked and then we would have no idea how to get around. Later though, looking out at the skyline from our apartment (day or night) she loved the view and found the towers & lights mesmerizing. 

We thought the location was fabulous. The views of the other High Rises, the convenience to Brickell Village & Shopping Center, dining (we especially liked Alloy Bistro Gourmet), Bayfront Park, and the science museum. There's also a nice trail around Brickell Key. The free Metro Mover and Trolley routes connects it to destinations a bit farther afield. Although access to Miami Beach is by Uber/Lyft. We highly recommend staying in the Brickell area.

We booked a History Tour of Miami with a "Tours By Locals" Guide. An excellent introduction to the highlights and the historic details, really the story of the founding families. We leaned about the Tequestas (the local Native Americans); key founders of Miami (the Brickell family - early settlers, Julia Tuttle - official founder, Henry Morrison Flagler - a founder of the Florida East Coast Railway); Miami Beach developers (John Collins and Carl Fisher); and founders of Coconut Grove (Ralph Munroe & Jack Peacock).

We visited Downtown Miami and Miami Beach (the Art Deco district, Hilton Fountain Blue Hotel and Ocean Drive), the Wynwood District with its giant Street Art, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables with Biltmore Hotel, and Little Havana where the first Cuban's settled along Calle Ocho. We passed by Vizcaya, the Miami Art Museum and elegant home of James Deering of the International Harvester fortune. It is a great place to visit but we've been there already a couple times.

We stumbled onto this exhibit next to the Museum of Science. A lot of colorful Cats & Dogs displayed along a garden walkway.

The Philip & Patricia Frost Science Museum was our destination for this walk. There are  several floors of exhibits including dinosaurs, and fish including sea horses.

On our way back to the apartment we stopped at the Alloy Bistro Gourmet for a late lunch. The tagliatelle with truffles and the gnocchi with foie gras made this our favorite restaurant in Miami and among the best on the trip.

Wynwood Walls is several blocks of giant street art by famous artists from around the world. The artwork covers a wide range of subject matter.  We were fortunate to see one multi-story work in progress. We also learned that Street Art (visual art created in public places) differs from Grafitti (drawings scratched, scribbled, or sprayed on a wall).

We moved on to Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach for shopping and lunch. No luck shopping, but the bears were interesting.

And the lunch at Cantinetta was good. We enjoyed the endive salad with nuts and blue cheese along with the carbonara and lasagna. 

Shopping, WDW, and visiting friends and relatives accomplished. Returning to Venice & Sarasota and finally getting to explore greater Miami frosting on the cake.